kirk minihane

Ten thoughts from Game 4: Now we have a series

Ten Thoughts from a Game 4 that included Kevin Garnett getting called for a three-second violation with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. Always nice to have the best and brightest with the whistle for the NBA finals, isn't it?

Might be a little soon, I guess, but to me there is no question that he has been the most valuable Celtics player through the first four games. Why? Pretty simple, actually. He's the only guy that has played really well in both wins. In Game 2 he gave the Celtics eight points and seven rebounds off the bench in just 18 minutes, a giant boost when you consider how poorly Kevin Garnett was playing at that point. Maybe the Celtics find a way to win Game 2 without Davis, but does anyone think they win Game 4 if he spends the entire fourth quarter on the bench? What a performance by Davis, really. Seven points in the first 3:38 of the final quarter, capped off by a wild sequence that ended with an offensive board follow-up for a basket and foul that gave the Celtics a seven-point lead and kicked off one of the few celebrations that will ever include screaming, drooling and carrying Nate Robinson on your back. Davis finished with 18 points and five boards in 22:29, a breakout game on a national level but no surprise to anyone that has watched the Celtics over the past two postseasons.

2. And oh, by the way, it sure looks like it's going to be Rondo-Ray-Pierce-Garnett-Davis as the five that will be on the floor if it's a tie game with 2:00 left in the fourth quarter of Game 7. Doc Rivers has gone with Big Baby over Perkins in each of the last two games down the stretch (Perkins did not play at all in the fourth quarter on Thursday) and it's hard to imagine that's going to change if Andrew Bynum isn't able to play much with his knee injury. The bottom line is that Davis is making plays, good things are happening when he's on the floor. Perkins has been OK, I guess, but not nearly the factor that Davis has been in this series.

3. Doc deserves a ton of credit for having the twins to stick with a lineup of Robinson-Ray Allen-Tony Allen-Davis-Wallace for over nine minutes of a tight fourth quarter in a must-win NBA finals game. A lot of coaches wouldn't do it, even if they thought it was the right move. Way too risky and way too easy to second-guess. But Doc didn't care.

"It was just their energy," said Rivers. "It was just their whole energy. I thought we were lacking that in that one stretch. Nate came in, Tony Allen was phenomenal tonight with his energy. Baby was phenomenal. Rasheed was unbelievable. I just thought the entire bench unit, with Ray, was great."

How many times during those nine-plus minutes did you tell Doc that it was time to bring in the starters? I know I would have made the move a lot quicker than Rivers did, particularly Garnett for Rasheed, who I thought looked gassed three minutes into the quarter. But for one night it worked. Not a formula that's going to get it done very often, but it sure came together on Thursday.

4. Anyone else think that it might be all downhill from here with Nate Robinson? The bundle of nerves act is a lot of fun when things are swell, but he always strikes me as a play or two from total disaster. Seems like he's an 0-for-5 in eight minutes just waiting to happen. He's been great the last couple of weeks, but I wonder if he can keep it together for three more games. Short leash, Doc.

5. And why are Nate and Rasheed picking up T's in those situations? What's the point of getting in Lamar Odom's face like that? What does it accomplish, exactly? You see stuff like that and it's no wonder the Knicks were dying to get rid of him. Sorry, I know Nate's polling well today, but there is a reason why he sat on the bench for the last three months. And Rasheed? Gee, you hack Kobe right in front of two refs (he got as much arm as ball), and proceed to jump around and unleash a buffet of F-bombs. Huh. That's merely dumb in February but borderline criminal in June. Lucky both free throws were missed and the final wasn't close.

6. I want the flopping issue addressed in the offseason. Got that, Stern? Gasol pulls a Sonny on the causeway every time he has the ball in the post. And on a semi-related note, wouldn't Gasol be at least 40 percent less hateable if he shaved his head?

7. I thought the "They didn't have Bynum in 2008" card was way overplayed by the media before the start of this series. I never gotBynum, just struck me as soft. More than serviceable, I suppose, but just. Well, wrong again. I was really impressed with Bynum in Games 1 and 2, but the best sign of his value was how poorly the Lakers played without him in Game 4. It really was 2008 all over again, and on both ends of the floor. The Celtics were able to get to the basket whenever they wanted, and cleaned up on the offensive glass. But the real surprise to me was how the Lakers changed on offense with Bynum out. Moving Gasol from the four (the spot where he's most comfortable) to the five had an impact. Plus there was suddenly a lot of one-on-one and watching instead of the ball movement we saw in the first three games from LA. Might just be a fluke that has nothing to do with Bynum. I think we'll find out, though, because Bynum is hurting. I think we'll see him again in this series, but it'll be limited minutes.

8. Another key factor, of course, is taking Bynum out and moving Odom into what is in essence a starting role (Odom played 39:05 in Game 4, more than any Celtics player other than Ray Allen). A major hit in the depth department and that led to 43 minutes for Kobe and 44 for Gasol. Might not matter on Sunday with the three days off, but Tuesday-Thursday for Games 6 and 7 (with a cross-country flight tossed in) could be a real test.

9. Two huge fourth-quarter hoops for Paul Pierce, who played his best game of the series. Scoring 19 points on only 12 shot attempts is about as good as you are going to do against Ron Artest (who was brutal in Game 4). I thought both Pierce and Kobe Bryant (33 points, six 3-pointers) both peaked -- at least so far in this series -- on Thursday.

10. The winner of Game 5 wins the series. I'll go with the team that has, at least for the moment, the edge in health and depth. Throw in the home-court advantage and the idea that the Celtics need to win Game 5 more than the Lakers (down 3-2 on the road is Dead Man Walking in the NBA playoffs) and here we are.

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